Slack, Chambers and Johnston, Operations Management, 6 th Edition, © Nigel Slack, Stuart Chambers, and Robert Johnston 2010 9.1 Chapter 9 People, jobs

Slack, Chambers and Johnston, Operations Management, 6th Edition,© Nigel Slack, Stuart Chambers, and Robert Johnston 20109.1

9.1

Chapter 9

People, jobs and organization

Photodisc. Steve Cole


9.2

Design

Planning and control

Operations strategy

Improvement

Layout and flow

Process design

Supply network design

Layout and flow

Process technology

People, jobs and

organization

Product/service design


9.3

In Chapter 9 – People, jobs and organization – Slack et al. identify the following key questions:

•Why are people issues so important in operations

management?

•How do operations managers contribute to human

resource strategy?

•What forms can organization designs take?

•How do we go about designing jobs?

•How are work times allocated?

Key operations questions


9.4

The elements of job design


9.5

Operations in practice – W. L. Gore

•How does W.L. Gore’s approach to managing its human resources seem to differ from more conventional companies?

•What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of W.L. Gore’s approach?


9.6

Understand organization

design

People on operations

Contribute to human resource

strategy

People, jobs and

organization

Design individuals’ and groups’ jobs

Design the working

environment

Allocate work times


9.7

The operation

Alignment with business strategy (Strategic partner)

Assisting in resolving operating issues (Employee

champion)

Managing transformation and change (Change

agent)

HR processes and procedures (Administrative expert)

Recruit Develop Deploy

Human resource strategy


9.8

Human resources (HR) role

What it involves Relevance to operations management (OM)

Strategic partner

Aligning HR and business strategy: ‘organizational diagnosis’, manpower planning, environmental monitoring, etc.

OM integrates Operations and HR strategy. OM specifies skills requirements and relies on HR to develop them informed by labour market forecasts, succession planning, etc.

Administ- rative expert

Running the organization’s HR processes and ‘shared services’: payroll, appraisal, selection and recruitment, communication, etc.

OM is largely an ‘internal customer’ for HR’s processes. OM must be clear in its requirements with agreed service levels mutually negotiated.

Employee champion

Listening and responding to employees: ‘providing resources to employees’, conciliation, career advice, grievance procedures, etc.

OM and HR must develop a good working relationship and clear procedures to deal with any ‘emergency’ issues that arise. Also OM must be sensitive to feedback from HR on how it manages day-to-day operations.

Change agent

Managing transformation and change: ‘ensuring capacity for change’, management development, performance appraisal, organization development, etc.

OM and HR are jointly responsible for operations improvement activities. HR has a vital role in all the cultural, developmental, and evaluation activities associated with improvement.

Human resource strategy (Continued)


9.9

Is it ‘googley’?

How did Google’s approach to recruitment reflect it’s human resources strategy?


9.10

Causes of stress at work and what could be doneCauses of stress What can be done about it

Staff can become overloaded if they cannot cope with the amount of work or type of work they are asked to do

Change the way the job is designed, training needs and whether it is possible for employees to work more flexible hours

Staff can feel disaffected and perform poorly if they have no control or say over how and when they do their work

Actively involve staff in decision making, the contribution made by teams, and how reviewing performance can help identify strengths and weaknesses

Staff feel unsupported: levels of sick absence often rise if employees feel they cannot talk to managers about issues that are troubling them

Give staff the opportunity to talk about the issues causing stress, be sympathetic and keep them informed

A failure to build relationships based on good behaviour and trust can lead to problems related to discipline, grievances and bullying

Check the organization's policies for handling grievances, unsatisfactory performance, poor attendance and misconduct, and for tackling bullying and harassment

Staff will feel anxious about their work and the organization if they don't know their role and what is expected of them

Review the induction process, work out an accurate job description and maintain a close link between individual targets and organizational goals

Change can lead to huge uncertainty and insecurity

Plan ahead so change is not unexpected. Consult with employees so they have a real input, and work together to solve problems


9.11 U-form organizations give prominence to functional groupingsof resources

Group headquarters

Marketing Operations Finance

Dept.A Dept.CDept.B

Dept.A Dept.CDept.B

Dept.A Dept.CDept.B


9.12 The M form separates the organization’s resources intoseparate divisions

Division A Division B Division C

Group headquarters

Marketing etc.Operations




9.13

Group headquarters

Matrix form structures the organization’s resources so that they have two (or more) levels of responsibility

Division A

Division B

Division C

Marketing

Operations

Human resources

Finance


9.14

Organization A headquarters

N form organizations form loose networks internally and externally

Group A Group F

Group D

Group E

Group C

Group B

Org D

Org E

Org B

Org C


9.15

Design individuals’ and groups’ jobs

Design the working

environment

Allocate work times

Ergonomics‘Scientific’ management

‘Behavioural’ approaches

Flexible working

Division of labour

Team working

The main influences on job design, work time allocation and the design of the working environment


9.16

The objectives of job design

Jobdesign impacts on

quality of working life

quality

speed

dependability

flexibility

cost

health and safety


9.17

Dividing the total task down into smaller parts, each of which is accomplished by a single person or team.

Promotes faster learning.

Makes automation easier.

Ensures that non-productive work is reduced.

Advantages

Leads to monotony.

Can result in physical injury.

Is not particularly robust.

Can reduce flexibility.

Disadvantages

Division of labour


9.18

Work study

Method study Work measurement

Method study is the systematic recording and critical examination of existing and proposed methods

of doing work, as a means of developing and applying easier and more effective methods and

reducing costs.

The application of techniques designed to establish the time for a qualified worker to carry

out a specified job at a defined level of performance.

Work study

A generic term for those techniques, particularly method study and work measurement, which are used in the examination of human work in all its

contexts, and which lead systematically to the investigation of all the factors which affect the efficiency and economy of the situations being reviewed in

order to effect improvement.


9.19

Standard performance is the rate

of output which qualified workers will

achieve without over-exertion as an

average over the working day provided

they are motivated to apply themselves

to their work.

Standard performance


9.20

A qualified worker is one who is

accepted as having the necessary

physical attributes, intelligence, skill,

education and knowledge to perform the

task to satisfactory standards of safety,

quality and quantity.

Qualified worker


9.21

Process charting

DDDDDDDDDDD

Activity Operation

Movement

Delay Inspection

Storage


9.22

Flow process charts for processing expense reports

Send to accounts receivable

Reports to batch control

Reports filed

Confirm payment

Report arrives

Stamp and date report

Send cash to receipt desk

Wait for processing

Check expenses report

Wait for processing

Check employee record

Check advance payment

Send to account payable

Wait for processing

Attach payment voucher

Collect retorts into batch

Check against rules

Wait for processing

Batch control number

Check payment voucher

Log report

Batch to audit desk

Wait for batching

Batch of reports logged

Copy of reports to filing

Description of activity

Totals

8

1

2

4

5

6

7

9

10

3

18

11

12

14

15

16

17

19

20

13

26

2223

24

25

21

7 8 5 5 1

Payment voucher to keying

Before

Reports to batch control

Reports filed Payment voucher to keying

Confirm payment

Report arrives

Stamp and date report

Check expenses report

Wait for processingCheck reports and vouchers

Attach payment voucher

Collect retorts into batch

Batch control number

Batch to audit desk

Wait for batching

Copy of reports to filing

Description of activity

Totals

8

1

2

4

5

6

7

9

10

3

11

12

14

15

13

5 5 2 2 1

After


9.23

Resources and flow: job design

Method study: SREDIM

Method study seeks to improve methods of production –it embraces layout, environment, material and labour and usage.

Select task to be studied

Record present method – using 5 charting symbols

Examine the facts critically

Develop best method

Install the new method

Maintain by regular checks.


9.24

Work measurement

Standard times are the building blocks of process

design – they represent the time needed for a qualified

worker to carry out specific jobs at defined levels of

performance.

Basic time + allowances = standard time


9.25

Rating scales

British standard I.L.O.

American standard

Standard performance

‘Incentive’

‘Normal’

100 80

60 75


9.26

The stages in work measurement

Basic time for element

Observed time for element

Basictime

Observedtime

RatingStandard rating

= X

‘Rating’ to adjust for effort


9.27

The stages in work measurement (Continued)

Basictime

Standard time = Allowances+

Basic time for element

‘Allowances’ for relaxation, etc.Standard time for element

Standard time for job


9.28

Element Basic time Allowancesmins

Standard time

A

B

C

D

0.6

0.4

0.8

0.3

2.1

17

12

10

17

0.10

0.05

0.08

0.05

0.28

0.70

0.45

0.88

0.35

2.38

Basic time2.10

Allowance0.28

Standard time = 2.38

Build up of standard times

%


9.29

A standard unit of work, e.g. 1 standard minute

The ‘standard’ unit of work

Light job90% work10% relaxation

Average job84% work16% relaxation

Heavy job68% work32% relaxation


9.30

Ergonomics

How the person interfaces with the physical aspects of

his or her workplace.

How the person interfaces with the

environmental conditions prevalent in his or her

immediate working area.

Ergonomics is concerned primarily with the physiological aspects of job design – i.e., with the human body and how it

fits into its surroundings.

Ergonomics


9.31

Using anthropometric data, ergonomics can guide how people interface with their workplace.

Ergonomics (Continued)


9.32

Forearmsapproximately

horizontal

Seat backadjustability

Good lumbarsupport

Seat heightadjustability

No excess pressure on underside of thighs and backs of knees

Foot support

if neededSpace for

postural change,no obstaclesunder desk

Leg room andclearance to allowpostural changes


Ergonomics in the office environment


9.33

Ergonomics in the office environment

Keyboard usable,

adjustable,detachable,

legible

Adequate lighting

Distracting noise

minimizedSoftware appropriate to

task, adapted to user, no undisclosed monitoring

Screen: stable image,

adjustable, readable

glare/reflection free

Windowcovering

Adequate contrast,

no glare or distractingreflections

Work surfaces: allow flexible

arrangements, spacious, glare free



9.34

Ergonomics – How the person interfaces with the environmental conditions prevalent in his or her immediate

working area.

For example, people working in extreme conditions.



9.35

Forming natural

Combining tasks

work units

Establishing client relationships

Vertical loading

Opening feedback channels

Low absenteeism and turnover

High satisfaction with the work

High internal work motivation

High quality work performance

Techniques of job design

Core job characteristics

Mental states

Performance and personal

outcomes

Skill variety

Task identity

Task significance

Autonomy

Feedback

Experienced meaningfulness of the work

Experienced responsibility for outcomes of the work

Knowledge of the actual results of the work activity

Behavioural approaches – Hackman and Oldham’smodel of job design


9.36

More tasks which give increased

responsibility autonomy or

decision-making Original

job tasks

Job enlargement

Job enrichment

More tasks of the same type

Behavioural approaches – Job enlargement and enrichment


9.37

Team working – where staff, often with overlapping skills, collectively perform a defined task and have a high degree of

discretion over how they actually perform the task.

For example – a team of nurses sharing the responsibility to care for patients

Team working


9.38

Empowerment means more than autonomy. It means giving staff the ability to change how they do their jobs and the authority to make changes to the job itself, as well as how it is performed.

Empowerment


9.39

Empowerment – McDonald’s lets families share jobs. It allows family members to cover each others jobs. Members of the same family working in the same outlet are able to work each others shifts without giving any prior notice or getting a manager’s permission.

Empowerment (Continued)


9.40

Flexible working – Increasingly some people are expected to do their jobs while traveling, with only occasional visits to their ‘home’ location.

Flexible working


9.41

Division of labour

Ergonomics

Behavioural approaches

Empowerment

Team working

Flexible workingStaff treated

as a resource

Staff treated as a cost

Emphasis on managerial control

Emphasis on commitment and

engagement of staff

Scientific management

Self-managed method study

Control versus commitment

Documents

Slack, Chambers and Johnston, Operations Management, 6 th Edition, © Nigel Slack, Stuart Chambers, and Robert Johnston 2010 9.1 Chapter 9 People, jobs